Working with Gilliamella apicola

Gilliamella apicola is a gram negative bacterial member of the honey bee (Apis mellifera) gut core microbiota that can be cultivated in vitro. Its isolation and characterization were recently carried out by Waldan Kwong in the laboratory of Dr. Nancy Moran and are described in depth in here.

In vitro culture conditions

Plate Growth

Gilliamella apicola strain wkB1 (type strain) and wkB7 are generally cultured at 35°C and 5% CO2. They grow robustly on agar plates after 48 hours on the following media:

Heart Infusion Agar

Heart Infusion Agar supplement with Sheep's Blood

Liquid Media

Gilliamella apicola can be cultivated in the following liquid media (same general culture conditions as above, without shaking):